Friday, March 14, 2008

For my fused fabric, that is. Previously, all this fabric was in a bin that wasn't wide enough. Well, it was just a mess. I saw this solution on my sister's blog, and then I saw it in person and really liked it. So, when I went to Howard's Storage on Friday (I think it's at a mall called Parkway Parade - on the east coast), I knew I had to keep my eyes peeled for one of these. It's actually for shoes, and it's got the pockets on the back, too. But I didn't need to use those.

So, this is perfect, and I can see all my fabrics so I don't have to dig in a bin. Woohoo!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

What I haven't said is that I finished this quilt, sometime over a week ago.

I'm really pleased with this, and feel that I have reached a certain level that I was aiming at. Unfortunately, reaching that level then sent me into a tail-spin. Now what? was all I could think.

I wont go into all the self-abusing thoughts that then ensued, because that isn't helpful. But I kept going back to Tete-a-Tete, and thinking about the experience of making that quilt. It was tedious, in that I actually made pattern pieces for almost every piece of fabric used in the quilt. But there was something zen-like in doing it that way; it brought me, mentally, to a different place. I was in the moment, not trying to hurry up and finish. I was taking my time, and enjoying it, so that in that sense, it wasn't tedious at all. I realized I was enjoying the precision of the process.

Precision was a word I grabbed onto. What connotations does the word have for me? It was then that I discovered a new direction for my quilts, and made this sketch:

Now, this sketch is small - under 12 inches square. And it came from an earlier sketch that included many more fiddly bits. I cleaned up that sketch to create this composition, which has just the right amount of fiddly bits to suit me. I was particularly fascinated with the idea of machine parts and tools going into the composition of a quilt. It seems like boy things going into a girly craft. Just seems, I said. Don't get all weird about that comment. So, here it is all made up:

Sunday, March 9, 2008

I just spend a fun weekend with my family. We didn't do anything tooooo spectacular, but we were very silly all along the way. There was a walk-a-thon at my daughter's school, very well organized event, and afterwards we took a dip in our pool - we were so hot. Sunday after church we went downtown and saw the Spiderwick Chronicles - very good movie for kids.

But it was also a weekend where we said things that were silly, and then repeated those things all weekend long, getting big laffs each time. My favorite sayings were: (from my husband to my daughter) "Does my thumb fit in your armpit??" And there was something about a lumpy koala that kept coming up. And, "you go hungry, bow bow bow." Inside jokes all, I know, but it's so nice when everybody is in such a great mood that we just laff and laff.